Winsock byte arrays?

[Guitarism]

Hello, I have searched for awhile, and perhaps I might not know what to search for, but I cannot learn more about using byte arrays to send strings AND/OR UDTs using the same winsock control. Basically, I am making an online client/server game. I have gotten the chat to work, but the UDTs not so much. Ive used examples found on http://support.microsoft.com/defaul...b;EN-US;q152058 which works, but when I use my own UDT, it seems to overflow.

Here is my UDT:

Public Type location
    X As Integer
    Y As Integer
    z As Integer
End Type
 
Public Type identity
    account As String
    password As String
    name As String
    gender As String
    Class As String
    subclass1 As String
    subclass2 As String
    subclass3 As String
    age As Integer
    race As String
    level As Integer
    exp As Integer
    skillpts As Integer
    statpts As Integer
    talentpts As Integer
    loc As location
    
End Type
 
Public Type wealth
    
    notes As Integer
    credits As Integer '100 notes = 1 credit
    platinum As Integer '100 credits = 1 platinum
    kesh As Integer '100 platinum = 1 kesh
    lumber As Integer
    food As Integer
        ore As Integer
        steel As Integer
        iron As Integer
        tin As Integer
        stone As Integer
        gold As Integer
        bronze As Integer
        copper As Integer
        silver As Integer
        
End Type
 
Public Type stats
    
    str As Integer
    dex As Integer
    int As Integer
    vit As Integer
    spi As Integer
    ner As Integer 'nerve, depending on number, at low life can get intimidated or fight better
    health As Integer
    mana As Integer
    rage As Integer 'when hit for certain amount, when missing, gain one rage; each point of rage increases miss rate by 5%, but increases damage by 3%
    burnout As Integer 'tiredness, battle fatigue
    hunger As Integer 'if 0, cant eat/drink
    healthRegen As Double
    manaRegen As Double
    rageDegen As Double
    
End Type
 
Public Type combat
 
    armor As Integer
    armorReduc As Double
    avgdmg As Double
    dmgmod As Double
    dodge As Double
    crit As Double
    block As Double
    parry As Double
    tohit As Double
    spellhit As Double 'chance to hit on a spell
    spelldmg As Double
 
End Type
 
Public Type resists
    
    fire As Double
    ice As Double
    nature As Double
    poison As Double
    disease As Double
    shadow As Double
    holy As Double
    magic As Double
    
End Type
 
 
'faction reputation from 0 to 10 (10 = best, 0 = worst)
Public Type rep
    human As Double
    elf As Double
    orc As Double
    ent As Double
    undead As Double
    centaur As Double
    troll As Double
    dwarf As Double
    leithon As Double
    betobian As Double
    dragon As Double
    yeti As Double
    dryad As Double
    goblin As Double
    ogre As Double
    roc As Double
    satyr As Double
    vampire As Double
    titan As Double
    sabre As Double
    uriah As Double
    razril As Double
    
    jehkuk As Double
    verjak As Double
    bloodwind As Double
 
End Type
 
Public Type inventory
    
    helm As item
    shoulders As item
    chest As item
    back As item
    belt As item
    gloves As item
    legs As item
    boots As item
    righthand As item
    lefthand As item
    ring1 As item
    ring2 As item
    neck1 As item
    neck2 As item
    trinket1 As item
    trinket2 As item
    trinket3 As item
    backpack(40) As item
    pocket(12) As item
    pouch20(5) As item 'gained at level 20
    pouch35(7) As item 'gained at level 35
    pouch50(9) As item 'gained at level 50
    pouch65(11) As item 'gained at level 65
    pouch80(13) As item 'gained at level 80
    pouch95(15) As item 'gained at level 95
 
End Type
 
 
'house/land/village variables for character
Global acres As Integer
Global armypower As Integer
Global taxrate As Double 'per turn, in credits
Global population As Double
 
 
Public Type hero
 
    identity As identity
    spellList As spellList
    stats As stats
    combat As combat
    resists As resists
    wealth As wealth
    rep As rep 'reputation
    inventory As inventory
    
End Type
 
Public myHero As hero

Quite hefty, I know, and it will get even larger as i add more things to the game. Reguardless, when it is saved directly to a text file, it is 18kb with a name filled out and the basic entries are put in. I'm not quite sure if it is too large, and it is causing it. I tried sending each sub-UDT (identity, spellList, stats, etc) and it still doesnt work. Anyone have any suggestions?

OK, moving on, assuming we get this to work, How do I do the array of bytes as a buffer? Ive seen examples and I truly dont get it; if you can point me to a tutorial, explain a bit, or give me the name of a good book I can buy, I'd much appreciate it.

Thanks!

[ccoder]

I have done quite a bit of what you are attempting. One difference that I can see is how we each define the strings in our UDTs. Mine are all fixed length. Each string defined in your UDT is actually a long pointer to a string and will only add 4 bytes to the length of the UDT whereas a 30 character string in my UDT will add 60 bytes to the UDT's length.

When I CopyMemory the UDT to the byte array, I use the UDT's Len (not the LenB) and in the copy process, the strings are compressed from 16 bit to 8 bit.

I have never used variable length strings in my UDTs so I just don't know what the CopyMemory will do. I would think that it would simply copy the address to the byte array. And who knows what is stored at that address on the receiving end. Without seeing how you have coded the CopMemory, I can only guess what might be happening.

I have replied to several posts on this subject in the past. Try doing a search using my id and "udt" as search parameters. If that still doesn't help, let me know.